The Unity Economy: How Isolation Changes Our Buying Habits

Aristotle described humans as political animals. In today's terminology, translation is akin to "social animals." The word politicon comes from the Greek word polis, which means city, town, or castle. It's easier than ever to stay connected, but we choose not: families get smaller, fewer children are born, and our circles of close friends are constantly shrinking. With the ability to connect with anyone, anywhere on earth, our motivation to engage in local communities has also diminished. However, it turns out that even though we seem connected, we also feel lonely. Psychologists and sociologists have often discussed our tendency to loneliness. Recently, economists joined the talks because lonely people spend their money differently than social people.

Lonely groups: the social epidemic of our time

The reasons for loneliness are not yet fully understood. Social media among teens is often seen as the main cause of isolation. But what about us, adults who started socializing long before we could do it on our phones? Being around lonely people makes you feel lonely, and what may start as a brief bout of loneliness can turn into a full lifetime of longing for human companionship.People with strong social relationships are more likely to live longer, healthier, happier lives.As expected, older people are the loneliest. As life expectancy increases, more and more older adults spend their final years alone and isolated, which comes with a wide range of health risks, and the onset of dementia is the most prominent. Young people feel almost as lonely as their older counterparts, which makes us think that we are at the beginning of this social pandemic. The commutation between work and study (people moving away from their families in search of better job opportunities) means that we all live far from our relatives. Some people move more than once during their careers, each time they have to build new social relationships. Finding new friends, "vetting" them, and building meaningful relationships can be stressful. So we are looking for easier and faster alternatives

How does loneliness change our buying habits?

The luckiest of us deal with loneliness through creativity. We transform our experience into something beautiful by replacing the warmth of a cohesive community with creative production. However, not everyone sees creativity as an escape from loneliness. The most common reaction is to throw money at the problem. There is a clear relationship between wealth and loneliness. High incomes are systematically associated with increased loneliness. Since the whole world is getting richer every year, can we buy companionship? Obviously, we can. There are actually a lot of services where you can hire a friend. For $40 an hour, he'll have a good time with you. Pet stones date back to the seventies, and in a more recent twist of events, people began treating life-size inflatable dolls as human companions. Canned dinners for one person are more popular than ever. On Valentine's Day, there is a rise in commercials that call for self-love or target single people. Big brands spend millions of dollars on research, so they know the unit can be leveraged. Consumers are looking for:

• A sense of belonging, despite not being part of a community

• Experiences, services and products as a way to replace dopamine that may otherwise be released when enjoying the company of others

• Sense of understanding

Lonely consumers buy:

• Lots of entertainment.

• Pets, new babies, and houseplants, new pets"

• Different travel experiences: Individual travel has increased, but travelers are looking for hubs, meet-ups and groups to be a temporary part of at their destination.

• Luxury goods – We are richer than ever and luxury goods help in two ways: we pamper ourselves in the absence of someone who does it In addition, we feel like we belong to a community – a society of the wealthy.

• Vitamins, supplements and organic foods. We have fewer people to look after, so we take better care of ourselves.

• Shared dating and experience services.

• Loneliness pushes people to shop a lot in a relentless attempt to fill the immaterial void with material possessions.

How can your company better serve its customers in an era of unity?

As most wealthy people will tell you, you will eventually discover that material things don't fill the immaterial voids. So, let's talk about how to help your client without unethical exploitation of their loneliness. There are a few ways to support them and help them fill this void Start with the extra attention to personalization: People by nature seek to connect with other humans and, more recently, with brands as well. Personalization means that you pay attention to their needs and desires to feel included and accepted. Most consumers will trade their personal data in exchange for better, more personalized experiences. It's up to you to use it wisely! Build great experiences, not just great products. Every purchase is an experience. And a pleasant experience. Make your customer feel contained, important, and part of the community. When talking about communities, if you haven't started building a community yet, it's time to do so. Lonely people are looking for personal experiences everywhere, and regular social media is no longer enough. Niche communities are the future. In the absence of concrete communities, we just connect with other people who share our personal and professional interests. Your company definitely caters to one of these two things, so build a community around it! Why? Remember Aristotle's words: we are social animals. The way we socialize has changed since his time but our need for human connection has not changed. Loneliness is annoying. If you don't suffer from them now, you must have suffered them at some point in your life. And maybe you'll suffer from it again.